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Letters to ET
Posted By katie allison granju
A NASA-funded college class focuses on explaining the human condition to extra-terrestrials:
English 4050/5560, otherwise known as “Interstellar Message Composition,” is the first class to enlist creative writers in a potential cosmic conversation. Funded in part by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Wyoming Space Grant Consortium, it’s designed to fill a practical – if extremely theoretical – need. “We’ve thought a lot about how we might communicate with other worlds, but we haven’t thought much about what we’d actually say,” says Lockwood, a professor of natural science and humanities.
Humans have dreamed about conversing with extraterrestrials for centuries. We’ve considered lighting kerosene-filled canals in the Sahara Desert; we’ve listened for radio signals from Mars; and we’ve sent NASA spacecraft aloft with representations of human beings and the solar system, and recordings of the Brandenburg Concerto and “Johnny B. Goode.”
In recent decades, while a few scientists have deliberately sent specific radio messages skyward, most have allowed humanity’s daily buzz of signals to speak for itself. Extraterrestrial communication, after all, has significant political implications, and researchers have found it less controversial, and more efficient, to simply listen to the universe. But as powerful radiotelescopes allow astronomers to study stars in greater numbers and at greater distances, the chances of running into another civilization – while still considered infinitesimal – are better than ever.
“It could be tomorrow that we’ll need to be ready to decide if we should reply,” says Douglas Vakoch, director of interstellar message composition for the nonprofit SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in Mountain View, Calif.
May 15th, 2008
My approach would be to listen carefully to the sounds of space but stay quiet about our presence here on Earth. More than just a few astronomers believe (and I think rightly) that our chances of encountering some really nasty beings out there are about as good as our chances of running into beings you might have over to the house for a Lady Vols game.